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All Saints Day




We believe in the communion of the saints, per the Apostles' Creed. A funny line in the basic statement of Christianity. Do you know what it means?

The communion of the saints means that being united to Jesus isn't about when or where you live. It's about how neither death nor devils can separate us from our Lord. It's about how there is one body, one loaf, one faith, one baptism. It means that all Christians, of all times and places, worship at the same throne; in Hebrews 13, it actually says we enter that throne room in Heaven by the Holy Spirit. We are with Christ, and we are with the others who are with Christ. That includes Christians who have died.

The hymn "For All the Saints" puts it this way:

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. 
Alleluia, Alleluia! 

My grandfather (pictured above) died in March. We celebrate him on All Saints Day. Let me tell you about how he brought the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

If you visited my grandparents' house in Muskegon, Michigan, you would have been hugged. You probably would have been kissed. (My grandmother lives there still, and she's just as loving as Grand-dad, so don't think you're getting away from it now.) You would have laughed a lot. You would have been invited to sit down, and as you talked, you would have eye contact the entire time, with a smile. And this is just for strangers! My wife, after meeting Grand-dad and Grand-mama the first time, said she had never known people to just love her so fast and so much. That's the Holy Spirit answering Jesus' prayer: "Thy Kingdom come."

So, for All Saints Day, don't just think about C. S. Lewis or Rich Mullins or Billy Graham or other famous Christians who have served faithfully (though certainly praise God for them, too). Remember that most saints go unnamed in history books but have their names in the Lamb's book of life. Praise God for these brothers and sisters with whom we worship in a mystical way, looking forward to the day when we are forever with them.

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